Thank you for the opportunity to read this novel. I could not connect with the storyline so I'm setting it aside for now and hope to pick it up again in the future.

This book was so good and had you turning the page to see what was going to happen next. The book deals with love, loss and race. Cinnamon and Daisy are both such good characters and their choices and decisions make the book. A great read

3.5 stars

I was really excited to read this book, as I absolutely loved Pride & Piazza's first joint book, We Are Not Like Them. However, and though I hate to compare the two, this book didn't quite live up to the first for me. I greatly appreciated the stats on foster care and applaud the authors for writing another book that marries both racial tensions with already complicated situations, but almost everything I loved about WANLT was missing or watered down this time.

First, this book was somewhat slow. Considering the premise, I was expecting more complications to what ended up being a fairly straightforward case. There were a few hiccups, but nothing felt like a major obstacle. And the greatest barrier was resolved both easily and quickly, which was good for the main characters, but left me, as the reader, a bit underwhelmed.

Second, I think Cinnamon and Daisy's relationship was really the heart of this story, and I would have liked a bit more of that. I also wish that their secrets would have been presented, at least to readers, earlier in the book. I think that would have helped with the pacing as well as the ending, which felt abrupt. There was so much revealed and happening so quickly, and then it was just over. I'm grateful for the epilogue, but it didn't give me as much satisfaction as I was expecting.

Overall, this was a good book, and like WANLT, there are many layers to dissect and points to discuss. I don't think You Were Always Mine reached its full potential, but I would still recommend it to both individuals and book clubs.

If you loved Christine and Jo's first book We are Not Like Them, you should definitely pick this one up. It's very well written and I felt like I was watching these characters deal with things first hand. It deals with race, foster issues, themes of motherhood, etc. all in such a thoughtful way. It bounces between timelines and characters which I also felt like kept me engaged. If books like Little Fires Everywhere intrigue you or you like to read about adoption stories and the things women face.

this book wasnt at all what i expected. ive never read a book by an author duo. There was so much potential this one, but it just wasnt for me.

We Are Not Like Them was one of my favorite books I read last year so I had the highest of hopes for YWAM and they were absolutely topped!

I loved reading this book - I didn't read the synopsis beforehand and definitely recommend going in blind. It captivated me from the very beginning and it was fast paced throughout.

Every decision Cinnamon made was well thought out and explained, and tbh if I was her, I'd probably do the same. I loved reading the dynamic between Cinnamon and Daisy and thought all the characters were complex and realistic. So much honesty and vulnerability was integrated in this book and I think it's one that will be on my mind for a very long time. I don't know what it is about these two authors but when they write together, they create magic.

I am a big fan of the authors of this book and this title reminded me why I am. It was so well done! I loved the characters and the story line!

4.5 stars

Cinnamon Haynes’s has a loving husband, a job as a career counselor at a community college, and a cozy home in a beach town. It’s more than she ever dreamed she could have, especially coming from a difficult childhood, but she still feels like something is missing from her life.

Daisy Dunlap is only nineteen but has already dealt with her fair share of problems. She has big dreams that are quickly crushed when she discovers she’s pregnant, and to make matters worse, she is broke and alone.

When Cinnamon finds an abandoned baby in a park, she is determined to do right by the child and provide a loving home, but doing so comes with its own risks. For one, the baby is white and Cinnamon is black, a difference that leaves her vulnerable to judgement from others. She also fears her past secrets will come to light, secrets even her husband doesn’t know. Is it really worth taking on the responsibility of a newborn and possibly being exposed for her less-than-perfect past?

I really enjoyed reading this book and getting to know these dynamic characters. Cinnamon and Daisy seemed like unlikely friends and yet they had more in common than they let on. I think they leaned on one another in the beginning as a source of refuge from the demons that haunted their pasts, but once Cinnamon found the baby, she really got a deeper look into Daisy’s life and fought even harder to protect the child from being taken by the grandparents. This story really digs into social issues of class, race, and motherhood in an authentic way, and I respect the author for taking on the topic with such grace and honesty.

Highly recommend!

*Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing a copy of this book to review.*

Not good.

There just weren't sufficient reasons to believe the decisions our protagonist was taking. The positive is that the writing isn't the worse, but overall, this just wasn't enjoyable.

As a follow up to their debut novel about the intricacies of race in unique circumstances, Christine Pride and Jo Piazza’s new novel, “You Were Always Mine,” is just as thought-provoking as their first.

“You Were Always Mine” follows Cinnamon Haynes as she discovers a newborn baby abandoned in a park; not just any abandoned baby, however, but one with a note tucked into her blanket specifically asking for Cinnamon to raise her. As Cinnamon is thrust into an emotional roller coaster, she battles with her own history growing up, her desire to raise this baby, her longing to find the true mother, and her issues in her marriage that began long before the baby appeared.

Being a Black woman who found and begins to care for a white baby, Cinnamon finds herself in many frustrating situations as the story unfolds. The word “frustrating” can be used to describe a lot of parts of this book, however. There are many frustrating characters (cruel, racist, stubborn, etc.), frustrating situations, frustrating relationships, and many of the characters’ motives to do basic things seemed frustrating. While reading the book caused a few eye rolls and annoyed huffs, I found that I could not put it down because I kept hoping that the characters would get the non-frustrating ending that they deserved.

I think that Pride and Piazza write extremely thought-provoking books about race and friendships/families between Black people and white people. As a white reader, I appreciate learning and growing through their topics and how they relate to the reality we see in our world today. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning and growing in that aspect. I also liked the two viewpoints (mostly Cinnamon’s, but a few chapters are in another character’s perspective and written in a letter format) that provided contrast and depth to the characters’ backgrounds.

Ater reading You Were Always Mine I asked myself “why is this my first book from Christine Pride and Jo Piazza?!?”

This book was a complete heart aching journey. The topic that this book revolves around, Pride and Piazza did a great job and handled it with so much respect. I was rooting for Cinnamon, and honestly still think of her and her journey. Which I feel shows what an amazing job Pride and Piazza did that I am still thinking about fictional characters.

Currently reading.

This cover looks so similar to the cover of their last book. I hope this one is more memorable than their last one.

I couldn't grab this one quick enough as I absolutely loved their first novel We Are Not Like Them. This was a decent sophmore attempt by the Pride/Piazza duo but I did not love it as much as their first one. The main character Cinnamon a person of color finds a baby during her lunch break that left at the park by a young white mother. Who she had previously befriended and bonded with over weekly lunches not knowing she was hiding a pregnancy. From there Cinnamon becomes immediately attached to the baby and wants to keep it much to her husbands dismay. While I applaud the interesting premise and what they tried to do here I felt this book tried too hard to cover too many things and in turn felt a bit murky/messy. It touched on race, marriage, adoption, past trauma, abuse, and foster care.

This book was an interesting look at a black woman taking on and fostering/trying to adopt the child of a white woman. Cinnamon and Daisy meet in a small town where both have a traumatic past they are hiding from basically everyone including each other. When Daisy gives birth, she leaves the child and a note for a Cinnamon saying she wants her to take the baby and raise her. This story touched on race, the foster care system, who should raise children and what makes someone a good mother. I really enjoyed this book but I do think it could have been tighter.

I really enjoyed this one! It was an airport read this week while traveling.

Cinnamon has overcome so many mountains in her life. She has finally arrived where she thinks she wants to be with a respectable job, great husband, and a nice house. But she had to leave out the truth about her past to get here.

Daisy also had a terrible childhood and has not recovered. She is starting a new and better life when her future is threatened by a one time lapse of judgement.

When Cinnamon, who is brown skinned, goes to meet Daisy in the park and finds a white, blue-eyed baby in the bushes, their secrets start to come out and both of their worlds are changed forever. Will they both do the right thing? What is the right thing? Maybe it's not what they always believed.

I gave this ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. This is a beautiful story of how our past shapes us, and how we can rise above. Sometimes hard choices are led by love even when the world disagrees. For some people letting go is the hardest choice and for some people holding on is the hardest choice. I loved the characters and it was heartwarming in its friendships and perseverance.

Thank you to @Netgalley and @atriabooks for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC of this novel.

Christine Pride and Jo Piazza have written another novel that puts the reader in the middle of a super sad situation. My heart ached for the characters in this book in so many ways. And like others, I struggled with not taking the baby to the proper authorities, I also wanted to understand her thoughts behind it all. A true heartache of a novel.

As with these authors previous book, it felt like they hit a lot of big topics without going deep, but I’m ok with that! Makes for a good conversation starter. I also really enjoyed the representation of the social worker… I’m sure that upset sone but in my experience, most aren’t very helpful, so it as nice to see that reflected.

I got about 30% in and just wanted more? The birth mother letter chapters were the best part of the whole thing- I wasn’t super compelled to keep reading even though I wanted to know what would happen to Bluebell. A little slow overall.

What happens when a Black woman finds a baby left for her in the park? Most women would call the police or work to try and find their mother, but when you add in a complicated history of the woman having trauma from being raised in foster care herself, the plot thickens. Then we add in a troubled marriage, a woman trying to hide from her past and being confused about her future, which is what happens with Cinnamon.

A moving and heartfelt story about the love two women have for a baby and the courage it takes to fight for the ones you love.

Overall, it's beautifully written and Cinnamon is easy to root for and is richly characterized. But it seems to want to explore and say something about different complex and nuanced topics but I feel like it just scratches the surface, never really making the impact I was hoping for.

4/5 🌟

I really enjoyed this duo’s latest novel! They present a lot of food for thought as they tackle myriad issues relating to Cinnamon, a young Black woman hiding her past, finding 19 year old acquaintance Daisy’s baby (who happens to be white) - along with a not asking Cinnamon to care for the abandoned newborn. What unfolds shakes the foundation of Cinnamon’s carefully constructed life which is hiding her trauma-filled childhood. I appreciate all of the questions the authors pose, though at times it’s almost like they’re tackling too many issues - but the characters are fleshed out and real, the writing is lovely and it’s a nice summer read that’s on the lighter side but leaves you feeling enriched for experiencing it. Thank you Net Galley for the opportunity to read this ARC!